Senior police officer played social footy with accused serial killer Bradley Robert Edwards

Gabrielle KnowlesThe West Australian

Saturday, 23 February 2019 7:00AM

Camera IconBradley Robert Edwards and the officer played together in the Central Crocs Masters football team.Picture: Supplied.

A policeman who was once part of the huge team hunting the Claremont serial killer played social football with the man now accused of committing the horrific crimes.

In a new twist to the long-running case that has gripped the State, The Weekend West can reveal that in 2007, Bradley Robert Edwards and the officer played together in the Central Crocs Masters football team.

Camera IconBradley Robert Edwards in the Central Crocs Masters team photograph.

It was before Mr Edwards was on the radar of WA Police as a suspect for the murders of the three young women abducted from Claremont and is a sign of just how small Perth can be.

The officer, now an inspector and who The Weekend West has decided not to name, was among the detectives who interviewed revellers at Club Bayview in 1996 after the disappearance of Sarah Spiers that January.

He spent time in the special crime squad, which was set up to investigate historical unsolved murders, including the Claremont case. The men were in the Central Crocs team photograph, above, taken to celebrate the last game in 2007.

Camera IconSarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon.

Mr Edwards is front and centre wearing a flashy pair of gold boxer shorts, a club ritual for the last game of each year.

Teammates gave Mr Edwards the nickname “shorts” and he had helped build and maintain the club’s website.

He liked a beer, though he was referred to as one of the team’s “quiet ones” in a club newsletter.

It is understood the police officer has been a long-time member of the Central Crocs. The club formed in 2007 as part of the AFL Masters WA for over-35s.

When contacted yesterday, one club leader said they would not comment on anything to do with Mr Edwards. WA Police also did not want to comment.

More details of the allegations against Mr Edwards, 50, were aired in the Supreme Court this week as prosecutors argued that accusations he attacked an 18-year-old woman in her Huntingdale home in 1988 and raped a teenage girl in Karrakatta Cemetery should be heard in July when he is tried over the Claremont murders. He has been charged with the wilful murders of Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon.